Spy Plane Decision Still Up In The Air

May 25, 2001|By Henry Chu and Norman Kempster Los Angeles Times

BEIJING — A Chinese official said Thursday that China had reached an agreement with the United States to have a stranded spy plane disassembled and shipped home. But U.S. officials said that there was no deal yet.

"The United States has submitted a proposal to take apart the plane and take it back," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said. "The Chinese side has agreed to that."

In Washington, however, Bush administration officials said the United States still hoped to be allowed to repair the damaged Navy EP-3 plane and fly it out of China.

In separate briefings, State Department spokesman Philip T. Reeker and Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. Craig Quigley said discussions with the Chinese were continuing over the details of returning the aircraft.

Reeker said the administration was "prepared, if necessary," to disassemble the plane. However, he said, "As we have said before, our strong preference remains to repair and fly out our airplane. That's obviously the fastest and most efficient way to return the aircraft to the U.S."

Asked about the Chinese announcement that a deal had been struck, Quigley said: "I can't explain for you why that was said but we checked and double-checked and triple-checked over the course of the morning and there has just been no final agreement as to the methodology by which the plane is [to be] removed."

The turboprop EP-3, a sophisticated electronic surveillance plane used in reconnaissance missions off the Chinese coast, has been on a military airstrip on China's southern Hainan island since April 1, when it made an emergency landing after a midair collision with a Chinese fighter jet.

The jet's pilot died as a result of the crash, and Chinese authorities detained the EP-3's 24 crew members for 11 days. The dispute dragged Sino-U.S. relations down to their lowest point in two years.

Since the crew's release, a major sticking point has been the fate of the $80 million U.S. aircraft, which was packed with advanced electronic eavesdropping equipment and classified data.

Washington repeatedly has expressed hope that U.S. technicians, who have inspected and assessed the plane's damage, will be allowed to repair the EP-3 and fly it out under its own power.

But Beijing has ruled out that course of action.

"We do not agree to flying the plane out of China," Zhu said. "This is impossible."

Details on how the disassembled plane would be shipped back, by air or sea, remained under negotiation, he said.

An agreement on the plane's return to the United States would mark a small measure of progress in a bilateral relationship left floundering after repeated setbacks over the past two months.